In the USA, there have been about 50 cases of travelers diagnosed with the virus, including three pregnant women.
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The director of the Ector County Health Department isn’t convinced the Zika virus should be classified as a sexually transmitted disease quite yet.
It is found in the southern United States, though no mosquito-borne transmission has been reported in the continental United States to date. But in Brazil, health officials are investigating a possible connection between the virus and babies born with brain defects and abnormally small heads.
The guidelines were in response to the report Tuesday by Dallas health officials who said a local resident was infected with the Zika virus by having sex with a person who had contracted the disease while traveling in Venezuela.
Obstetricians have said that since 80 per cent of those infected by the virus show no symptoms, many women have no way of knowing early enough to make an informed choice about their unborn child.
More cases of the Zika virus are continuing to surface.
In the meantime, Frieden urged people to focus primarily on taking the precautions they can: For women who are pregnant, avoiding travel to South and Central America and the Caribbean; for men, avoiding travel or guarding rigorously against mosquito bites.
Zika virus is carried by the same mosquito, Aedes aegypti, that transmits dengue.
Dallas County Health and Human Services confirmed it through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The World Health Organization has declared a public health emergency in connection to the outbreak. Within weeks, the state lab in Austin is planning to test for the virus. “…We know that we must be prepared for the worst even as we hope for the best”.
In addition to microcephaly, Zika is also believed to be linked to a neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome.
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An explosion of cases across Brazil and Latin America has prompted warnings against travel by pregnant women to the region. Scientists are still trying to determine, for instance, how long the virus remains in the semen of a man who has recovered from Zika.
